From May 3 till May 5, the Symposium was held in Geneva on standards and interaction of the “Single window” under the auspices of the UNECE to address the issue of streamlining of trade procedures and electronic transactions. On behalf of the Federal Customs Service of Russia L.Lozbenko, the Deputy Chief of the Russian FCS took part in conferencing of the Symposium.

The participants of the Symposium discussed the set of problems related to work management and implementation of the “single window” approach at a national, regional and international level. It was emphasized that this approach must be established based on close cooperation between all parties concerned, meanwhile customs, being in the quality of a border “gate-keeper”, can become an optimal law enforcement and “blotting” body, receiving and coordinating flow of information related to compliance with all regulatory requirements in respect of transboundary movements.

L.Lozbenko reported on the activities being accomplished by the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation along these lines. The participants of the Symposium noted that the “green corridor” system, developed jointly by the Russian Federation together with Finland, presents a quality platform for putting into practice of the Frame Standards of the World Customs Organization.

G.Rapota, the Secretary General of the EurAsEC reported on the status of harmonization and simplification of customs procedures in the Community, establishing of integrated communication system for customs services of the EurAsEC member-countries, and also informed on plans of introduction within the Community of the Frame Standards of safety and promoting world trade of the WorldCustoms Organization (WCO).

Representatives of Finland, Austria, Japan, South Korea and Ghana demonstrated efficiency of application of the “one window” approach, while concentrating on the cost of integration of the “one window” approach (in South Korea - $30 millions, in Ghana - $7 millions).Relevant presentations were made by the regional organizations – European Commission, ASEAN and EurAsEC.

European Commission proposed to continue development of the “single window” systems at the national level to be brought together by 2012 within European Community. The ASEAN ministers of economic affairs have already taken the decision on implementation of the IT-based “single window” system.